The _four-and-twenty elders_ occupying _thrones_ (not seats) around the throne are to be regarded as representatives of the glorified Church; and the number, twice twelve, seems to be obtained by combining the number of the patriarchs of the Old Testament with that of the Apostles of the New. The description of the heavenly scene is now continued:-- And before the throne, as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within; and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord, God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come (iv. 6-8). Up to this point we have been beholding a royal court; in the words now quoted the priestly element comes in. The _glassy sea_ naturally leads the thoughts to the great brazen laver known as the brazen sea which stood in the court of Solomon's temple between the altar and the sanctuary, and at which the priests cleansed themselves before entering upon the discharge of their duties within the precincts of God's holy house. The resemblance is not indeed exact; and were it not for what follows, there might be little upon which to rest this supposition. We know, however, from many examples, that the Seer uses the figures of the Old Testament with great freedom; and as the Temple source of the _living creatures_ next introduced to us cannot be mistaken, it becomes the more probable that the brazen sea of the same building, whatever be the actual meaning of the figure--a point that will meet us afterwards--suggests the "glassy sea."